The Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies (SNCWS), Jamia Millia Islamia, in collaboration with the Sahitya Akademi, organised a one-day symposium on ‘Gendered Epistemologies: Unpacking the Indian Knowledge System’ at the FTK Auditorium, JMI, on September 24. The symposium brought together more than 140 academics, researchers, students and participants from within and outside the university to discuss gender, knowledge production and the Indian Knowledge System.
Vijaylakshmi Brara highlighted the importance of organising such academic engagements within the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Chairing the inaugural session, Prof. She described the symposium as a timely intervention in the field of gender studies and knowledge production. The first working session, titled ‘Lived Experiences’ examined the Indian Knowledge System through case-based studies, highlighting the relationship between knowledge, community life, cultural practices, and everyday experiences. Prof. Rekha Shangpliang, North-Eastern Hill University and Prof. Gomti Bodra Hembrom, Department of Sociology, JMI, presented papers on the lived experiences of the Khasi and Baiga communities, respectively. The second working session, titled ‘Understanding the Indian Knowledge System’ saw Prof. Sudha Singh, Head, Department of Hindi, University of Delhi, speaking about the invisibility of women in literature and underlined the experiential nature of women’s knowledge and language. Rajnish Kumar Mishra, Professor, Centre for Sanskrit and Indic Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, drew upon classical Sanskrit texts to emphasise the importance of engaging with ancient texts as foundational points of reference for understanding the Indian Knowledge System. Dr. Anjali Capila, formerly Associate Professor of Development Communication at Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, presented a paper on women’s folklore, with particular reference to the lives and challenges of women in Garhwal. Referring to a range of literary texts in his valedictory session, Prof. Jitendra Kumar Srivastava, Registrar, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi stressed the importance of reading the works of Indian women writers and poets to understand the processes through which women have created, articulated, and transmitted knowledge.